Nevada basketball hits program-best No. 5 ranking in the nation

The Wolf Pack basketball team moved to a program-best fifth in the nation in the AP Top 25.

Nevada, which has started the season 6-0, was sixth last week but jumped a spot after Tennessee lost to No. 2 Kansas in overtime.

The Wolf Pack begins its toughest non-conference stretch of the season Tuesday when it faces Loyola Chicago, which it lost to in last season's Sweet 16. After that are games against Pac-12 foes USC (road) and Arizona State (neutral court). Nevada's wins have come over BYU, Pacific, Little Rock, Cal Baptist, Tulsa and UMass, with the last of those victories clinching the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic title.

Prior to this season, the highest Nevada had placed in the Top 25 was ninth in 2006-07, but it began this season in the seventh slot and has moved up two positions since then. The Wolf Pack moved up one spot to sixth on the USA Today Coaches poll. Nevada is 13th in the NCAA's NET rankings, which are the new RPI.

This week's poll also has a new No. 1 in Gonzaga, which beat then-No. 1 Duke, which fell to third.